Cashing in on the boom

By Jose Santino S. Bunachita|September 28,2018 - 10:39 PM

Kenneth Stern, RE/MAX Philippines country manager, (left) together with Harry Morris of RE/MAX Properties (center), and Von Jeric Tima-an of RE-MAX Pro, talks about the company and Cebu’s property market during the announcement of their expansion plans here at recent press briefing at the Quest Hotel.CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

It’s not just developers seeing the benefit of Cebu’s burgeoning property sector.

With every building constructed comes the corresponding need to market and sell these spaces — whether office, residential, or commercial — to buyers and investors.

This is where brokers and real estate agents come in; and they, too, are cashing in on Cebu’s property boom.

Evidence of which is the opening of two new offices of RE/MAX, the world’s leading franchisor of real estate brokerage services, in Cebu next month.

According to Kenneth Stern, RE/MAX Philippines country manager, they have been wanting to set up shop in Cebu for some years already.

“Cebu is one of the targeted cities we’ve been going for. The thrust of our expansion is really in the provinces. Because Metro Manila is getting at a saturation point,” he said.

Property prices

With more and more public and private infrastructure being built within Cebu, the prices of properties in the province are also seen to increase in the coming years.

Stern, in a press conference last Monday, said that they see land prices in different parts of Cebu to increase in value by between 30 percent to up to 300 percent in the next five years.

The area with the highest projected increase is Punta Engaño in Lapu-Lapu City.

Currently, data from RE/MAX show that land prices in Punta Engaño is at an average of P20,000 per square meter.

In five years, they see it to increase by 300 percent.

For the rest of Lapu-Lapu City, current land prices along the highway is between P15,000 to P25,000 per square meter; while for those in the private roads, it’s between P4,000 to P10,000.

But RE/MAX sees its projected value to increase by 200 percent in the next five years.

In the south of Cebu, land prices are currently between P5,000 to P12,000 per square meter.

In the next five years, it’s seen to increase also by 200 percent.

Lastly, for the northern part of the province, land value is projected to increase by 30 percent in the next five years compared to current prices of between P5,000 to P12,000.

“The Cebu market is up and coming. More foreign companies and expats will move here in the future. The potential for the Cebu market is huge with infrastructure development like the new airport, more flights coming in. Foreign investment will continue to grow,” Stern said.

He also cited that the boom in Cebu’s real estate industry is fueled by the growth of the local information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, boost in tourism, and the increase in remittances and investments of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The cities of Cebu and Mandaue are also seeing a lot of condominium development and mixed-use business districts.

On the other hand, Stern noted that developers are now looking at areas outside these two cities such as Talisay City, Minglanilla and Naga City in the south; and Consolacion and Liloan in the north for their subdivision projects.

The Cebu market is up and coming. More foreign companies and expats will move here in the future. The potential for the Cebu market is huge with infrastructure development like the new airport, more flightscoming in. Foreign investment will continue to grow. -Kenneth Stern, RE/MAX Philippines country manager

MACTAN NEWTOWN BAGS PROPERTY AWARD. The Mactan Newtown, Megaworld’s 30-hectare township in Lapu-Lapu City, was a big winner at the 2018 Property and Real Estate Excellence Awards by the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI-Philippines). The Mactan township won the ‘Outstanding Masterplan Development’ award, which it won for the third time since 2015. Along with this, Megaworld also won nine other awards during the gala night, including the recognition of Megaworld chairman, Dr. Andrew L. Tan, as the first Hall of Famer for ‘Property Man of the Year.’ The company’s subsidiary Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. (GERI) was also awarded the 2018 ‘Developer of the Year.’ At photo on the left, Megaworld executives Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso, chief operating officer (from left); Noli D. Hernandez, senior vice president for sales and marketing; and Dr. Francis C. Canuto, senior vice president and treasurer; receive the award.

Partners

RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Linger, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with independence.

Over 120,00 agents provide RE/MAX global reach of more than 100 countries and territories.

In the Philippines, the company now has 27 franchises and more than 200 brokers and associates nationwide.

RE/MAX was founded in 2012.

According to Stern, it took some time for them to open in Cebu as they had to look for good partners.

Their franchisees in Cebu are businessmen Von Jeric Tima-an and Harry Morris.

“There’s a lot of infrastructure and property development happening in Cebu not only in the local CBD (central business district) but in the neighboring areas. Joining RE/MAX will give us a competitive edge in marketing all these new developments and in showcasing these potential investment opportunities to both local and foreign investors,” he said.

Tima-an owns the franchise for RE/MAX Pro and will be opening their office at the Times Square 2 in Mandaue City in October.

He was born and raised in Cebu City and opened his own realty firm BEPRO Realty five years ago.

Meanwhile, Morris was born in the Philippines and traveled back and forth to UK with his family.

He settled in Cebu after finding an opportunity to venture into real estate through RE/MAX.

He now owns the franchise for RE/MAX Properties which will also open in October at the Advent Business Center, along Acacia St. in Cebu City.

Morris also sees the continued upward trend of Cebu property values, making it ideal for investment opportunities.
“We want to be fully equipped to meet the influx of investors as we are seeing many areas in Cebu where the value of some properties could be double in the next five years. And with the industry constantly evolving, we partnered with RE/MAX to stay ahead of the curve,” he said.

Aside from Cebu City, RE/MAX is also targeting to penetrate more cities in Cebu like Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City as well as the rest of the Visayas including Tacloban and Bacolod.

Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.